Tony Abbott talks to Lateline

The shadow Minister for Families and Community Services, Tony Abbott, joins Lateline.

Transcript

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LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: And joining me live in the studio tonight is the shadow minister for families and community services, Tony Abbott.

Tony Abbott, I know you probably want another conversation about the Liberal leadership like a hole in the head and I will give you a chance to talk about the Coalition's pension plan.

TONY ABBOTT, LIBERAL FRONTBENCHER: And I'm grateful for that, Leigh.

LEIGH SALES: But obviously you just heard Peter Hartcher's revolutions about Peter Costello's intentions. What is your reaction?

TONY ABBOTT: I am disappointed. I am very disappointed. I am disappointed for our country, for our party, most of all I am disappointed for Peter because I think he will live forever with this haunting sense of what might have been. But, look, he's made his choice. He will have to live with it. As I said, I am disappointed, but he's a big boy and he runs his own life.

LEIGH SALES: Does that mean you think neither Brendan Nelson nor Malcolm Turnbull nor anyone else in your party could deliver the sort of leadership that Peter Costello could?

TONY ABBOTT: Peter had almost 12 years in the second most important position in our country. He was a very good treasurer. He was a very good deputy. He was a marvellous complement to John Howard. They were the backstroke political partnership in our history. I certainly think he had everything that it takes to go on to be a successful Prime Minister at the right time. He's not going to do that.

But, look, Brendan is doing a good job. I think today's initiative on pensions really does highlight the hypocrisy and phoneyness of the Rudd Government. And we've got other talented people, obviously Malcolm Turnbull's a very talented bloke and a real asset to the Party.

LEIGH SALES: Did Peter Costello inform his colleagues that he had made up his mind before this material is appearing in the Herald?

TONY ABBOTT: No. Peter spoke publicly back in December, and I think he's been very guarded. He's basically kept people guessing. Now, he's entitled to say that he made a statement and he did nothing to contradict that. But I suppose under these circumstances, silence inevitably starts people guessing and hoping and praying sometimes!

LEIGH SALES: So what do you think of the way that he handled it?

TONY ABBOTT: Well, look, I think that Peter will always be remembered as a really outstanding treasurer. One of the great heroes of the Liberal Party, one of the great characters of Australian politics. That's how he will be remembered.

I don't think the last few months will be anything other than just a bit of static at the end of a great career.

LEIGH SALES: Do you think that Peter Hartcher's right when he says that Mr Costello's colleagues have lost patience with him?

TONY ABBOTT: I think it's fair to say a lot will be disappointed because plainly these aren't the greatest days for the Federal Liberal Party. And Peter certainly has the standing and the experience surpassing all the rest of us.

So, yeah, we will be disappointed not to have him as a comrade in arms in the difficult days and months ahead.

LEIGH SALES: Is there disappointment about the way though that he's handled this speculation and responded to it with, as you point out, a lot of silence?

TONY ABBOTT: I think the disappointment will be that this great political talent, this really impressive figure in our public life, is not going to contribute further. That's where the disappointment will lie.

LEIGH SALES: Has his silence damaged the Liberal Party brand and made Brendan Nelson's job harder?

TONY ABBOTT: I think it's always difficult to lead a newly minted opposition. It's particularly hard to lead when someone who everyone thought would lead is not leading but still in the Parliament. Now that Peter has made his intentions clear, I think that Brendan's job does become easier.

LEIGH SALES: You said this week that the Coalition was dismayed by the bad polls and in June you were asked would the Opposition would continue to stomach opinion polls consistently showing Brendan Nelson's approval rating at a miserable level. And you said "if the next couple of polls show the same thing, then I think it starts to get significant."

How much longer will the Coalition tolerate it?

TONY ABBOTT: I think the important thing is to get on with the job. And that's what Brendan was doing today. He was saying, "Look, there is a serious problem here. The Prime Minister and five of his Cabinet colleagues say that you can't live on the single old-age pension. And having admitted that there is a problem now, they're not fixing it now, they're putting it off for at least six months."

Now, that is not leadership. It really isn't. And we elect a Prime Minister to lead, not to review.

LEIGH SALES: But you have to have a leader who can take that fight to him.

TONY ABBOTT: And that's what Brendan did today.

LEIGH SALES: Is he is best person to be doing it?

TONY ABBOTT: Brendan is leading. That's what he is doing.

LEIGH SALES: Would you like to see Malcolm Turnbull lead?

TONY ABBOTT: No, I want to see us doing our job. And that's precisely what Brendan did today. What he did was he exposed the phonyness in Kevin Rudd's prime ministership. All care and no action.

If he really cares about pensioner, he wouldn't just be throwing up his hands and saying, "Sure, I feel your pain". He would be addressing their problem, he would be giving them some more money, which is what they deserve.

LEIGH SALES: On the pension plan, you want to give more to help aged pensioners, but there's a lot of people on pensions, carers, people with disabilities, war veterans; why single out one group for assistance and not the others?

TONY ABBOTT: Well because these are probably those who are most suffering right now. But the point I make, Leigh, is that this isn't our last word on pensions. This is our first word on pensions and Labor isn't helping anyone, not one.

They're just saying to everyone, "Wait." Well, how long do they have to wait? If there's a problem now, it should be fixed now. And that's what we're trying to do.

LEIGH SALES: Politics is about give and take. Would you be prepared to do a deal with Labor on, say, one of its major upcoming initiatives like the alcopop's tax and getting that through the Senate in return for Labor supporting your pension plan?

TONY ABBOTT: We don't think pensioners should suffer while Labor creates a slush fund for the States. Really, it is not absolutely essential for economic responsibility to have a $22 billion surplus. That surplus belongs to the people. And other than a modest margin for prudence, it should be given back to the people, either by way of tax cuts or judicious spending increase and that's what we're proposing.

LEIGH SALES: But, as I say, politics is about a bit of give and take. Could you not work together on a couple of these initiatives so that they can both get through?

TONY ABBOTT: Well I don't think that we are going to help anyone by increasing prices, which is what every single one of Labor's tax measures does. Each one of them increases prices. Now, that's not what we want. That is not what pensioners want.

I mean, why pensioners are in crisis at the moment is because inflation is now running at almost five per cent under Kevin Rudd, grocery prices and petrol prices have skyrocketed since the election, notwithstanding his easily made promises but hard to implement promises to bring those prices down. So this is Kevin Rudd's problem and he should fix it. And we are offering him a way forward.

LEIGH SALES: Wouldn't it be wise instead of increasing the weekly rate to just give a lump sum now as a helping hand and wait for the Government's review into this before committing to something more permanent?

TONY ABBOTT: Well, if Kevin Rudd has got that in mind, let him announce it. Let him announce it now. Incidentally Brendan Nelson did say some months ago that the windfall tax gain from higher petrol prices should be given to pensioners as a one-off lump sum.

LEIGH SALES: Now, Malcolm Turnbull's your Shadow Treasurer, this policy wouldn't have been announced without his approval?

TONY ABBOTT: That's correct.

LEIGH SALES: So he was part of the decision making?

TONY ABBOTT: He was.

LEIGH SALES: In the final days of the Howard Government, one of your ministers Mal Brough was pushing for an increase in the pension and the Government rejected it. So isn't it rank opportunism to attack the Government over this?

TONY ABBOTT: Well circumstances have changed, and what's happened since the election is that inflation has gone up from about three per cent to almost five per cent. The price pressure in respect of grocery, in respect of petrol, has sky rocketed. Rents have sky rocketed.

So it's a different situation now than it was back then and one of the things that John Howard was very good at was at addressing real problems when they arose, not necessarily before they arise, but when they arose. And I think if John Howard was Prime Minister today, pensioners would not be waiting.